A four-sided figure is resized to create a scaled copy. The proportional relationship between any given side length in the original figure, \( f \), and the corresponding side length in the scaled copy, \( s \), can be represented by the equation \( s=\frac{1}{4} f \). What is the scale factor from the original figure to the scaled copy?

The equation \( s=\frac{1}{4} f \) indicates that each side length of the scaled copy is one-fourth the length of the corresponding side length of the original figure. This means the scale factor from the original figure to the scaled copy is \( \frac{1}{4} \). When you're scaling figures, it's essential to remember that this not only reduces side lengths but also affects the entire area. In this case, since the scale factor is \( \frac{1}{4} \), the area of the scaled figure will be \( \left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^2 = \frac{1}{16} \) of the original area. Fun fact: You could fit 16 of the smaller figures into the area of the larger one!